Scoundrel's Honor (Russian Connection 3)

Dimitri glanced toward the pile of robes that Josef had so recently shed.

“You are hardly in a position to toss about insults.”

The slender man snorted, his lips twitching with amusement. “Do you wish to know what I learned or not?”

Dimitri heaved a sigh. What was the point in chastising the man? Josef had spent a lifetime tossing dice with the devil. It was going to take a more than a lecture from Dimitri to curtail his dance with death.

“I do,” he admitted.

“Two of the brothels were eager to welcome me inside and introduce me to their females. They even allowed me the opportunity to search the establishments.”

“I thought we agreed not to stir unnecessary curiosity?”

A smug smile spread across his face. “I explained that I was seeking a respectable brothel for my wealthy employer and that he suffered a peculiar fear of fleas. What could I do but inspect the rooms?”

“I assume you found nothing?”

“Fleas.”

“Charming.” Dimitri shuddered. He was far too familiar with the filth and squalor to be found in cheap establishments. “And the third brothel?”

“Oddly enough they claimed that they could not accommodate my employer for the next week.”

Dimitri’s interest was instantly piqued. “Did they offer an explanation?”

“I was told that there had been a fire in the private chambers and that they were making repairs.”

Dimitri gave a decisive shake of his head. “There is no brothel that would turn away a potential customer even if the place was still on fire.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

A thick silence descended as Dimitri glanced down the empty street and then toward the looming palace.

On the other side of the thick walls Emma was no doubt still cursing his name and tossing priceless artifacts at the door, and yet he desired nothing more than to return to her private quarters and drag her into his arms.

But if there were even a slim possibility that he could discover Valik and the innocent females he was holding prisoner then he had no choice but to put aside his personal desires and pursue the bastard. “Damn.”

Josef smirked, seeming to enjoy Dimitri’s reluctance to leave Emma.

“If you want to return to the lady I will search the brothel,” he taunted. “At your age you really should avoid situations that demand agility.”

“The traffickers are not the only ones who can toss you into the Nile, my friend.” He pointed down the dark street. “Lead me to the brothel.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

EMMA WAS INFURIATED.

She told herself that it was Dimitri Tipova’s intrusion into Rajih’s palace and his brazen seduction that made her long to toss every breakable object in the vast palace. Had she not made it clear the last time they met that she wanted him to leave her in peace? He had no right to force his company on her.

But while she might be in a temper, she was not utterly unreasonable.

If she had truly been disturbed by Dimitri’s arrival then surely all she nee

d have done was call for one of the countless servants? Dimitri was a dangerous, even lethal, adversary, but not even he could fend off a half dozen large eunuchs.

Besides which, there was no means to convince herself that the seduction had been anything but mutual.

A shameless excitement jolted through her body. She had wanted Dimitri with such fervor that nothing could have kept her from his arms. And if he had not so rudely abandoned her, then she would no doubt be willing and eager to be seduced again.